The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-09-26
LANTERNS AND LAMPS.
From the Ancients' Torches to the Burn"
ers OF Modern Days

ers of Modern Days
Lanterns are an ancient institution.
You remember that Diogenes used one ln
his eccentric efforts to discover something
he did not believe In. The lanterns of the
Greeks and Romans contained an oil lamp.
Its sides were made of thin layers of horn,
waxed parchment, linen or bladder. Glass
lanterns were used in England as early as
705. They were expensive, however, and
1000 years later the tin lantern was
chiefly in use among the poor people.
The Chinese excel in the manufacture of
lanterns. They have used them for ages.
Some of their mandarins have them built
at a cost of thousands of dollars each.
The word built is not out of place here,
for these lanterns are twenty to thirty
feet high and contain hundreds of
candles. Their sides are often of rich
colored silk On Jan. 10 of each year
they celebrate the ''feast of the lanterns. "
Why? Oh, it's way they haVe-they
are heathens, you know.
No; candles are not the most primitive
form of light. In Homer's time torches
were used, even in the palaces of the
wealthy. Rush lights, early in use, were
rushes dipped in grease, pitch or wax.
Lamp comes from a Greek word-lam-
pas. The candles of Scripture are sup
posed to have been lamps In which olive
oil was burned. The earliest lamps were
shallow vessels of terra Gotta, either
round or oblOng in shape. There was
small opening in the top in which the oil
was poured; at the side was a handle,
and opposite, a nozzle through which the
wick protruded. This form of lamp is
often represented in pictures. Many of
them were ornamented with representa-
tions of war scenes and chariot races.
Bronze lamps and golden lamps have
been discovered of such beauty as to en-
title them to rank among the choicest
specimens of ancient arts. In the acrop-
oils at Athens, according to a historian,
was golden lamp large enough so that
when filled it would burn night and day
for year. Above it was bronze palm
tree to carry off its fumes and act as
reflector. That was the kind of lamp
to have.
Speaking of primitive lamps, some are
still to be found in the country districts.
s'While in West Virginia recently said
travelling man, 81 saw one that was
primitive enough. A saucer was filed
with grease, and over the edge Of it
hung lighted wick. 1t spluttered some,
but made enough light to render the
darkness visible, and it's heat was suffi-
Gent to light the pipes of the family.
It was more used for that purpose than
any other it appeared to me, though it
was the only light in the house. There
are many people in the mountain regions
whose only lights are tallow dips.
A form of the ancient Greek lamp is
still in use among the Canadian French.
In the remote districts of the land the
cruise, similar lamp, is sometimes
found. Olive oil, ground nut oil, poppy
oil or other vegetable oils are used in
various districts of the world. In the
tropical regions cocoanut oil is used in
lamps. The trade of candle making, usu-
ally combined with that of soap boiling,
was once an important one. Franklin
worked at it until he ran away. The
chandler made wiclxs, nodded and dipped
his candles until driven out of business
by the general adoption of whale oil as
an iluminant early In the present cen
tury.
Improved lamps were introduced about
a century ago. A Frenchman named
Argand, in 1884, invented burner with
two concentric tubes, the inner one open
for a current to pass through and the
outer one containing the wick. He had
a metal chimney to make it draw and
carry off the smoke. Somebody soon
found out that glass chimney was bet
ter for that purpose. Argand's lamp,
variously modified and improved, is the
parent of all the best modern lamps.
Various substitutes for whale oil were
tried during the present century, but
none came into general use until coal oil
was introduced. 1t was first made from
camel coal, and that is the way it got it's
name. The general development of the
protroleum region in Pennsylvania, which
began in 1859-60, soon destroyed the
manufacture of coal oil, just as it was
getting to be profitable industry. Many
improvements in lamps followed this dis
covery. But petroleum is not new
thing-neither is natural gas. Oil was
found in spring on Zacyuthus or Zant,
one of the Ionian islands, 1900 years
ago, and was burned in lamps in Sicily at
an early age. 1t was known to the In
dams and to the western pioneers of
America, but somebody had to discover
how to get it in quantities and use it be-
fore the knowledge became of value to
the world.-Pittsburg Dispatch.